Bridge material



30 1,640,980 Aug 1927 l. cARoNl BRIDGE MATERIAL Filed Aug. 5, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Eg l' 1i 7 //7/ /HY/ l Aug. 3o, 1927.

l. C'ARONI BRIDGE MATERIAL Filed Aug. s@ 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ngl 6.

A 1,640,980 Aug- 301927' LCARONI BRIDGE MATERIAL Filed Allg'. 1925 4 sheets-sheet s frs. 9.

` l l i l we/175V da (2W M Patented Aug.A 30, 1927.`

narran sra-'rss ITALO CONI, OF ROME, ITALY.

BRIDGE MATERAL.

Application filed August 3, 1925, Serial No. 47,919, and in Italy August yt, 1924.

My invention relates to bridges and similar structures and has for its object to produce a new bridge material, especially tor bridges for military use, permitting such bridges to be easily taken apart and trans.- ported. According to my invention, provide ioating units which may be connected together in various ways, either for the purpose of forming movable floating bodies ot y larger size, or so as to form permanent supports for the bridge flooring. I

'The improved bridge material according to this invention is termed oi flora-.ing units consisting of a completely closed and watertight hollow metallic body ot prismatic shape, each or" said unitsl being provided with means for the connection with adjacent units both in longitudinal and in transverse direction without` intervening spaces, the invention being characterized by the arrangement and shape of the said connecting means.

Another 'feature ot my invention consists in this that the floating units can be made unsinkable by means ot special cellular structures placed inside said units.

In the annexed drawing schematically illustrating the invention,

Figs. 1a and 1b when placed side by'side at the line ri-0s are a side view ot a floating body 'formed of five units, Fig. 2 is a perspective view ot an intermediate unit, Fig. 3 a perspective view of outside unit, Fig. 4: a perspective view of the connections between the several parts of a bridge under construction, Fig. 5 a perspective view ot a type of structure used to make the hollow units unsinkable, Figs. 6 and 7 are top views schematically showing the arrangement ot the piers and a number ot units connected with each other, Figs. S, 9, 10 show several forms of connections for the piers; Figs. 11 to 14 show another kind of connection of the floating units. Y

As will be seen from the drawing, the bridge is ma'de upot a certain number of hollow iioating units 1, suitably connected with each other. The number ot said floating units both longitudinally and transversely (Figs. 1 and l) can of course be changed to suit the existing conditions.

Each unit consists of a metal sheet body of prismatic shape. Its walls areV either soldered or riveted so as to produce a staunch structure. v n K The end lunits' 2 forming the sternV and the bow of the floating structure preferably are rounded so as to improve their' navigation qualities and to lessen the resistance ot the stream when the floating structure is anchored.

t The several units are connected together 1n any suitable manner to 'form floating structures ot any desired size and shape.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to t, each unit has along its upper and lower surface two continuous walls provided with two lateral projections 3 and two sides provided with a central lateral projection 1 adapted to enter the space between the two projections 3 of an adjacent unit. The projections are all made like steps.

rlhe side walls provided with the projections 8 have ribs 6 while the walls provided with the projections t have corresponding grooves 5, which arrangement permit-s the units to be quickly and surely connected together as shown in Fig. t. A

ln order to ensure a fair distribution ot theload upon the units ot each i'ioating structure, the units carry, a flooring made ot metal beams 7 of suitable cross-section, e. g. channel shaped, which beamsV extend over the upper surface of each unit being fastened thereto by means of screw bolts 15.

After the floating units have been connected, the whole structure is enclosed between four hard timber beams 8, extending through iron straps 9 carried by the outside units.

Each outside unit is' provided with ay certain number ot adjustable bolts 18 which can be lengthened or shortened at will, by means ot' a sleeve 10 having two threads ot opposite pitch.

Figs. 11 to 14 show another kind ot connection between the units, by means of central rods, outside beams and the eventual addition of clamping projections and joining plates.

In Fig. 11 is shown in front view an isolated iioating unit while Fig.Y 12 shows ay number of outside units connected, leach one of them being traversed by two tubes 20 and 21 extending at right angles to each other and placed at a suitable distance one from the The tube 20 connects the front wall of the unit with the back wall and is soldered at its end to said walls. l Tube 21 connects in a similar manner, the lateral walls ot the unit. A'

Vithin said tubes are provided two rods Si) l) and 23 which serve for the connection of a certain number of adjoining units. 'flie outer ends of said rods project on the of; side of the structure formed by said. units, and vby means of an outer screw nut two U-shaped irons /lare secured, which form peripheral belt of the structure about the middle of the structurels height.

ln order to uniformly distribute the weight on the floating structure, there provided on its upper surface a planling L1-1 retained in place by transverse irons l2 having holes through which pass pins 43, projecting from the upper surface of each unit and onto `which pins the locking nuts t: are screwed.

AAccording to F 1 and 11i, the edges of each unit are reinforced by 'trames of angle irons to which plates forming the walls of the unit, while on the upper and lower faces are xed some `rishaped irons 2T. The projecting web 2S of Inid irons acts as a connecting member with the adjoining unit.

The upper and lower surfaces of each group of four units reinforced in' the aforesaid manner, are connected together by means of plates 29, secured to a planlring Lll and supplied each with four holes to re-` ceive one of the four connecting pins 30 tixed on the stiffening frames near their vertices. The plates 31 for connecting the terminal units have, instead of two holes, one hole only.

Near their bases, the units are connected together by means of tubes ill-21, rods 23 and Ushaped irons 241: similarly to what has already been described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12. Some pins 30 are longer than others and serve for their connection with the irons intended to hold the planking of the bridge and of the raft.

il floating structure built from the singlo units being connected together in any of the aforesaid manners, may be used as a life-saving raft or landing-raft, or barge, or lighter for the conveyance of materials or passengers upon the v-.fater for which purpose it may be supplied with cars or a motor suitablyv fitted on the outside.

The structure may also beused as a sup porting pier for a bridge planling intend ed for the crossing of a stream. ln that case, it will be supplied with anchors or cables to moor it, and, instead of a rectangular shape, the structure is given a pointed shape fore and aft so as to lessen the resistance of the water.

The pointed shape given to the pillar, and which is necessary7 when the current is strong, can ce obtained, as shown in Fig. 6, by one unit 12 and two half units 13 being cut along a diagonal line, or, as shown in TEig. 7, by means of a unitV 1Q having two guard plates 14C for cutting the water.

ttached the Lef-roseo chored or moored, itV

is necessary to look after their connection with the "planlriiig,

for which purpose, .in case 'the structure has been made according to Figsv 1 toy 4i. there is placed on the frame formed by the beams rlhe beams 11 are eains 7 by means ofthe sameV connecting pins 15.` onto whoseV screwed `the nuts 17.

Other connecting forms of the piers or floating structures are shown in Figs. 8, 9

, and 10 wherein mayfbe seen thatrthe piers can be joined together by means of wooden girders 4157 (Fig. 8) upon which is after- .ds placed the planlting 48, or by means iron girders i9 (Fig. 9), or by means of girders 50 and 10) placed one non the other. angement especially the central partof the ridge which may be reseii'ycd for thelpassage of very heavy loads is reinforced.

The connecting girders, whatever their shape. inst .ad of resting directly on the pillars are supported by interposed contrivbridge in a horizontal, vertical or circular direction.

As has already been stated, one of theV chief features of the invention consistsV in this, that the single units 1 can be rendered unsinlrable by filling the inside space of the units with blocks of a light material, such as cork, for instance, india-rubber froath or even a cellular structure of a Y very thin metal plate.

1n practice, where such bridges are eX- posed to the enemys fire, it will be better to till the units 1 with blocks of a mixed struc ture, formed, as shown in Fig. 5, by large cells 59 to till the lower'and submerged part of the unit, with smaller cells 57 in the inter mediate part and by layers of cork 58 in the upper 'part which, always remaining above the water surface, is most exposed to shots.

y In some cases it may be necessaryv to have such supporting structures submerged or i another wooden frame formed by beams connected with thethreadedr ends areY rlhrough the latter ar-Y lit-tod to allow the movement of theY Y lil() .llo

part are made, which hole can be closed byv a screw cover 16 (Figs. 2 and 3), or in any other way. Through the holes, the unit can be filled with sand or gravel in order to sink them in the spot where they are to remain permanently to be used as supports. Itis obvious that when thebridge later is broken up, these elements can be emptiedV and therefore recovered.

it will be seen that with the.y above de scribed units, suitably grouped either sidewise or lengthwise, floating bodies .of any size whatsoever can be constructed, capable of supporting heavy artillery guns, armoured tanks or any other heavy weights which could not be borne by the pontoons of an ordinary pontoon-bridge. V

The sizes of the units are selected in such a way, for instance l cubic meter, so that each one of them may be easily transported, for which purpose the upper face is supplied with a suspension ring 16 to hang it up, while for carrying them over a long` distance they can be placed on lorries occupying little space. v

It is to be understood that the prismatic shape of the units and the means of connecting them have been described only by way of example, and that both the shape of the units and the means ot connecting them may vary while remaining within the scope of the invention.

Thus, for instance, the units may be made collapsible by means of folding walls so to occupy the least place possible and oi'ferf ing the leastresistance to the air, which is particularly important when the units must be carried on mules baclrs, or by airplanes.

The inside of the collapsible units may be occupied by an india-rubber air-chamber, or by permanent layers made of light material.

I claim:

l. In a floating structure, the combination with a plurality of floating units each comprising a completely closed, water tight hollow metal body of rectangular prismatic shape, of means connecting adjacent units both in longitudinal and transverse directions, to form a compact structure, and means comprising a rigid girth surrounding the floating structure to better keep the assembled units together and to secure greater stiffness. Y y

2. A ioating structure as specified in claim l, in which the means for connecting the adjacent units both in longitudinal and transverse directions consists ot spaced projections provided along the upper and lower surface ot each unit and mutually Aengagimg; grooves and ribs provided on the lateral walls of said units.

3. The combination as specified in claim l, comprising blocks of cellular construction in their lower portion, their upper portion being `formed of layers of cork or similar material, said blocks filling the inner space of said hollow units.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature this 15th day of uly, 1925.

ITALO CARON I. 

